Lotus extends Evora’s life, GT Racer and convertible on the way
Lotus’s future as been constantly in the drawing board as the small British make concocted several radical plans to help them expand their markets. And while all of this news about Lotus may come across as confusing, here’s one bit of news that has at least been solidified.
The current Lotus Evora has been given some extra time to live—five years to be exact—as the Norfolk-based company postponed the new Elan until 2017.
That said, the stability of the Lotus Evora will allow Lotus to build its own 4.8L V8 570hp in-house so that it can power the new Esprit, which is planned for release in 2013. Lotus needs to start building its own engines as Toyota ends the production of their engines that power current Lotuses (Lotii’?). Additionally, a small poll also showed that the potential buyers for Lotus’s new cars aren’t willing to spend £100,000-plus on a car powered by a Toyota engine.
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The new 4.8L Lotus V8 will weigh in at 170kg, about 80kg less than the Toyota option that was being considered and will run for the first time in August, said Lotus’s chief engineer, Wolf Zimmerman. It’s also “40% smaller than the Toyota engine,” he continued.
“Because the V8 is currently being designed and built, we are also confirming that Lotus is investigating a four-cylinder engine that will basically be comprised from one bank of the new V8,” Zimmerman also added. “Ranging from 2.0L to 2.4L, the new four-cylinder could have as much as 250hp and could be used to power a hybrid version of our Elise replacement in 2015.”
Lotus’s boss Danny Bahar also confirmed that the Lotus-Proton joint project city car, the Ethos, which we’ve brought to you last week, will go into production and be sold as a low-volume Lotus-badged entry luxury car in Europe and as a Proton in Asian markets. The driving forces behind the Ethos are currently being decided between a full-electric drivetrain versus a hybrid.
Separately, Lotus is reported to be working on a 400-hp Evora GT Racer and a convertible model.
– By: Chris Chin
Source: AutoCar